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Kong Dethrones Logan With $20.2 Million Friday Box Office

Even armed with adamantium claws, Wolverine is little match for King Kong.

“Kong: Skull Island,” the second film in Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse universe, stomped the North American box office on Friday, earning $20.2 million on its way to a projected $52 million to $54 million debut.

That was more than enough to best Fox’s “Logan,” which headed into its second weekend of release on Friday with another $10.5 million. Hugh Jackman’s final appearance as Wolverine, a character he’s portrayed nine times since 2000’s “X-Men,” director James Mangold’s film grossed $88.3 million domestically in its opening weekend, and $240.8 million worldwide. It could bring in another $36 million to $37 million in its second frame, helping it to lift its global haul to about $350 million.

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts (“The Kings of Summer”), “Skull Island” debuted this week in 61 international markets, where it’s expected to close out Sunday with receipts somewhere in the low- to mid-$80 million range. The Kong origin story bows March 24 in China, the world’s second-largest film market.

A follow-up to Legendary’s 2014 film “Godzilla,” “Kong: Skull Island” centers on a 1970s expedition to an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean, where the team encounters the monstrous Skullcrawlers and the giant ape known as Kong. Legendary’s MonsterVerse is set to continue in 2019 with “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and in 2020 with “Godzilla vs. Kong.”